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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Project Management Knowledge Areas

Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers mus develop. There are nine knowledge areas of project management. The four core knowledge areas of project management include project scope, time, cost, and quality management. These are core knowledge areas because they lead to specific project objectives. Brief descriptions of each core knowledge area are as follows:

Project scope management, involves defining and managing all the work required to complete the project successfully.

Project time management, includes estimating how long it will take to complete the work, developing an acceptable project schedule, and ensuring timely completion of the project.

Project cost management, consists of preparing and managing the budget for the project.

Project quality management, ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied needs for which it was undertaken.

The four facilitating knowledge areas of project management are human resource, communications, risk, and procurement management. These are called facilitating areas because they are the processes through which the project objectives are achieved. Brief descriptions of each facilitating knowledge area are as follows:

Project human resource management, is concerned with making effective use of the people involved with the project.

Project risk management, includes identifying, analyzing, and responding to risks related to the project.

Project procurement management, involves acquiring or procuring goods and services for a project from outside the performing organization.

Project integration management, the ninth knowledge area, is an overarching function that affects and is affected by all of the other knowledge areas. Project managers must have knowledge and skills in all nine of these areas.